"The house has been trashed:" Woman returns from vacation to find her home ransacked...by a squirrel!



VANCOUVER -- A Vancouver homeowner is cleaning up after her house was ransacked Tuesday evening, October 25th. Police found the suspect -- but it wasn't who, or WHAT they expected!

Christine Kiss had just returned home from a five-week holiday to Europe with her husband.

"And then I noticed this on the floor and I thought well that's very strange..." Kiss said.

Something wasn't right.

"I go up the stairs and I see the clock flipped over..." Kiss said.

As she ventured further, it got stranger.

"The painting was crooked. The lamp shade was crooked," Kiss said.

She soon realized her home had been ransacked.

"A lot of the pewter was knocked off and it was all down on the floor. It looked as if a leaf blower had gone through the whole den and just blew (papers) all over the place," Kiss said.

The mystery deepened when Kiss noticed that, despite the mess, not a single item was missing from her home.

Perhaps the vandals were hungry.

"They got into the Easter eggs, chocolate," Kiss said.

Could a troublemaker with a sweet tooth wreak all this havoc?

"One of the constables thinks maybe they got high on the chocolate and went bananas," Kiss said.

That would be bizarre -- but not nearly as bizarre as what was discovered next.

"The kitchen counter was completely covered with poop," Kiss said.

Could this be the clue that would crack this mystery? It was time to call in the professionals.

"I said 'I think the house has been trashed,'" Kiss said.

Oak Bay police arrived, and quickly found the suspects' calling card. They tracked it to behind the washer, and using a broom and a towel, the officers took the bushy-tailed villain into custody.

"They got him into the towel then out the back door," Kiss said.

The saga was over, but there is a cautionary tale to this, "Squirrels Gone Wild." You see -- this foe was once a friend!

"We don't know whether it was Wilhemina or Franklyn..." Kiss said.

Kiss and her family had been feeding squirrels from a bowl of peanuts all summer.

"They come regularly they just sit there looking in the dining room door waiting for their peanuts," Kiss said.

But when she went on vacation -- the rodent returned. He's now a "nut-orious" felon -- back on the run.

Kiss said she's learned her lesson, and will no longer be feeding squirrels!